


Elevator to Dimension X

by FleetSparrow



Series: Drawlloween 2018 [18]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 02:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16338371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/pseuds/FleetSparrow
Summary: There are two elevators in Wayne Manor.  One goes from the Manor to the Cave.  The other sometimes goes to Dimension X.





	Elevator to Dimension X

There are two elevators in Wayne Manor. One runs from the house down to the Cave. The other goes from the ground floor of Wayne Manor to the third, just short of entering the attic. It wasn’t often used, only when one of the family was injured, but it was kept in good repair.

Dick was injured this time, a bad fall had fractured his ankle and kept him off his feet for a week so far. He dozed in his wheelchair, waiting for the elevator. It worked well, but it was slow. Dick didn’t like being slow. He fidgeted his good leg, bouncing it in the foot rest as he waited. Finally, the elevator arrived and Dick wheeled himself in.

He pressed the ground floor button and leaned back.

The elevator juddered and rose. Dick pressed the ground floor button again, but still the elevator climbed. It reached the third floor and opened to an empty floor. Frustrated, Dick hit the button again, but the elevator didn’t move. The doors stayed open. Curious, Dick wheeled himself out to check on the third floor.

The floor was dark, the hall stretching long and away from him. Carefully, he wheeled down the hall. It seemed to go on forever. He passed door after door; there seemed to be no end to them. Finally, he stopped and opened one of the doors.

His breath caught in his throat. Inside was a couple, laughing to each other as they dressed for a night out. The woman was selecting her jewelry while her husband straightened his tie in her vanity mirror. Dick recognized the couple from years spent in the house. It was the Waynes.

Closing the door, Dick wheeled around to another door and opened it.

There was an old man sitting in a chair by a ghostly fire, a young girl sitting on his knee reading from a large book. The old man smiled gently down at the girl as she tried to sound out the words. Dick’s mind flashed up a portrait. It was Grandfather Wayne, Thomas’ father, and probably the girl was Thomas’ sister who’d died young. Dick backed away, letting the door shut.

Why was he here? Why were any of them here?

He checked door after door, and behind each one was the ghost of a Wayne family member. Dick wheeled back down the hall, almost racing back to the elevator. He wasn’t sure why he’d been chosen to see this, but it upset him. This should’ve been shown to Bruce.

Catching himself just before he slammed into the back of the elevator, he whipped around to face the hall. The doors all opened and ghosts streamed out from them, heading towards him. He pressed the ground floor button, but nothing happened. Again, the doors failed to shut.

The ghosts were coming closer now. He jammed his finger down on the button, willing the doors to close and send him back to the land of the living. He didn’t know what might happen if the ghosts reached him, but he wasn’t keen to find out.

Finally, just as the ghost of Solomon Wayne reached the gates, the elevator doors shut. The ghosts watched as the elevator sank, taking Dick down to the ground floor.

Dick closed his eyes and sighed in relief. He didn’t like messing with the spirits of other people’s families, especially families as long and storied as the Waynes. Dick rested his chin on his chest.

The ding of the elevator woke him again. He was outside the elevator on the second floor, where’d he’d been waiting for it. Cautiously, he wheeled himself inside and pressed the ground floor button. The elevator doors closed immediately, and it began its descent.

Dick shook himself. Had that really all been a dream? It had felt so real, but there he’d been, right back where he’d started from. He didn’t remember wheeling out, but maybe that’s because it really had been a dream. Whatever it had been, Dick didn’t want to relive it.

The elevator stopped and Dick wheeled out, only to freeze a moment later. He wasn’t on the ground floor anymore. He was back on the third floor, looking at a row of doors that led on forever. He wheeled backwards but the elevator doors were shut.

Slowly, one by one, the doors of the hallway opened. Through each one, a specter came out, carrying a lantern. Dick froze in terror. They walked towards him in two lines, one on either side of the hallway. They passed through opening doors, joining each other in their procession. When they reached Dick, they stopped, all facing him.

“You’ve got to go away,” Dick said. “You’ve got to move on. Bruce isn’t here.” He had a terrible feeling they were looking for someone, and he wasn’t going to let them find whoever it was.

A murmuration started among the ghosts, an indistinct whisper that reached Dick’s ears, but that couldn’t be deciphered. It didn’t sound pleasant, whatever it was.

“I don’t know what you want, but you can’t have me,” Dick said, edging his chair back to the doors of the elevator.

The whispering grew louder and the ghosts moved forward.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Dick said, sounding braver than he felt. “But I won’t let you take anyone.”

He heard the doors open behind him and he wheeled back. Suddenly, there was no ground beneath him and he plummeted into the darkness of the elevator shaft, the ghosts watching him from above. He finally realized what they were whispering. They were saying his name, over and over again.

“Dick.”

Dick awoke with a start, sweating through his hair, feeling cold and clammy to himself. Bruce was looking down on him in concern.

“Where am I?” Dick asked.

“You’ve been sitting in the elevator for the past few minutes,” Bruce said. “I couldn’t wake you.”

Dick looked around. This was Bruce, solid and non-ghostly. This was the ground floor, where he’d meant to go. Dick wiped his brow.

“I don’t know what happened, Bruce,” Dick said. “One minute I was going down, the next, I was in the hall on the third floor surrounded by ghosts.”

“Ghosts?”

“Your family,” Dick said. “It was terrifying.”

Bruce frowned. “I’m sure it was just a dream, Dick. My family wouldn’t harm you.”

Dick looked up at him, but nodded. “It probably was just a dream. But it was nuts.”

Bruce kissed the top of Dick’s head and pushed his chair out of the elevator. “If it happens again, just dream me there. You know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know,” Dick said, leaning back. “I know.”

There are two elevators in Wayne Manor. One goes from the Manor to the Cave. The other goes from the ground floor to the third, just below the attic. And sometimes it goes to Dimension X.


End file.
